SENATE CALLS FOR HALT TO N17 TRILLION TAX WAIVERS BY FIRS

The Senate expressed dissatisfaction with the country’s N17 trillion loss due to tax waivers in the last five years. The Committee on Finance urged the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to suspend the misuse of tax waivers and replace it with a rebating system.

This objection arose during the FIRS’s 2024 budget presentation to the finance committee. Zacch Adedeji, FIRS chairman, projected a targeted total tax collection of N19.4 trillion for 2024 and advocated for halting the proposed N2.7 trillion Tax Credit for road construction by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Senator Sani Musa, committee chairman, emphasized the need to address the abuse of tax waivers, suggesting their suspension and substitution with a rebating system to prevent avoidable losses.

In response, the FIRS chairman discussed plans to reduce the 62 different taxes to 8 in collaboration with a committee established by President Bola Tinubu to address multiple taxation.

He also emphasized the importance of exhausting the previously committed N2.5 trillion before considering any fresh request for the Tax Credit Scheme for road construction.

From The News Source: Techeconomy